Adam Mitchell [00:00:02]:
Alright. Hey, Mark. I wanna welcome you to this episode of Close Quarter Dad Podcast. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you. Before we get started, tell us a little bit about what you're currently, up to, and then I'd like to kind of I'd like to flush out a little bit of about your background and some of the things that we're gonna be talking about today. So why don't I hand the mic over to you?
Mark Booher [00:00:24]:
Yeah, Adam. Thanks for having me on. By the way, close quarter dad. That is an awesome name for a podcast. That's really cool. So super happy to be here. But, anyway, I'm Mark. I've got I've kinda split my duties between my, civilian side and military.
Mark Booher [00:00:39]:
I've got 12 years in the army, and part of that was in active duty. And part of it or currently now in the National Guard. So, the hat I wear there, I'm an infantry instructor. So we have guys from all over the country, really world, even when, it's it's it's mainly junior enlisted guys and some junior NCOs when they have already kinda got a hitch done, but they were maybe in another career field within the army, whether active duty, guard, or maybe even the reserves, if they have those units, like, I can't remember. But if they want to change their classification and become infantrymen, we are one of the facilities that can facilitate that. So we run the infantry men's course there. And then we also do, for non commissioned officers going from sergeant to staff sergeant, they're required to do a a professional military education course. We call it ALC or the advanced leaders course.
Mark Booher [00:01:35]:
So we teach that as well. So super cool job. And then since 2013, I've been running my own security consulting and training company. We've done some contracts for DOD, DOJ. I've consulted with fortune 500 companies. I probably taught in police departments all around the country, and we've run civilian training as well on any kind of tactical combatives, self self defense type stuff.
Adam Mitchell [00:02:04]:
Cool. Cool. There so let me just set some framework here. I really wanted to kind of it usually have a little bit of a backstory first, but I wanted to set the mark right now with this is the work that, Mark is doing, because the topic we're gonna be speaking about today, I really wanted to get some context around the, that current work that you do because this is a topic that we've really never spoken quite a bit about. And when I was really sort of putting this together in my head, about how could what are the what are some of those needs and fears that a lot of dads face? How could that level of training that you offer, both civilians and, military, how could what what's the highest the what's the not like what's the greatest fear, but what's the, what is it you know, you don't you don't train for the highest risk. You train for the highest probability. Right? You don't train for what's most dangerous. You train train for what's most likely to happen.
Adam Mitchell [00:03:11]:
And one of the things I know in training is the importance of understanding fear, and I think too often fathers condition their children, especially their boys, to not show fear, to put fear. And I really appreciated some of the some of the communication that you offer in your work about the importance of a villain. And I'd like to step in 1st. Maybe we can maybe we can start off with some deeper context around your some of the models that you teach from. And then we can start to sort of somehow maybe and I'll ask for your lead on this but sort of block that to becoming to to in our role as a parent. And I know, you know, you have a couple children yourself, so you're probably going to be speaking from some some, experience there. But let's start off with where does that fit in right from the beginning when you start your training, your teaching?
Mark Booher [00:04:11]:
Well, I get the sentiment with dads, you know, for those that are kind of of the mind that they want to inoculate their kids against fear, to show no fear, to even have no fear. I mean, I think I don't think anybody enjoys fear other than if they go to a a scary movie or something, if they're into a roller coaster or something. But that's a that's a different kind of thing. You know, we're talking about deep seated fear. You know, but I think really, if you split the 2, maybe they're getting that confused with terror, you know, the feeling of terror, which in my mind, and some people might just say that's semantics, but I think terror is something that grabs a hold of you and seizes you, that can prevent you from taking action, either to protect yourself or to protect someone else. Fear, on the other hand, to me, that's an innate feeling or an emotion that is hardwired into you by nature. It's put into their your maker put that in there. It's part of your software, operating software, so to say.
Mark Booher [00:05:17]:
And although when it's allowed to run amok, yeah, it can cause problems, and it it can lead you to, you know, inaction or failure to take the right action. But really, it it is there to protect you, and I think everybody has it. I think what guys that maybe subscribe to that, what they're really meaning and what they really want is to teach their kids how to overcome fear, how to act in the face of fear, you know, how to be brave and courageous and to transcend fear, really. And they really are 2 different
Adam Mitchell [00:05:56]:
in in in your model and in your viewpoint? Do we see those as separate or different, and how do we communicate that to our kids?
Mark Booher [00:06:04]:
I I think I think they can be used interchangeably. Right? Context is everything. But I think if you really wanted to peel it back to me, I think there is a difference between bravery and courage. I think bravery is something that you you just either have it or you don't, whereas courage is something that you summon, within you. You call it forward. So and and because of that, because it's something that you have to call forward, you have to bring it forward and bring it to bear, then that to me is more noble and admirable. And in terms of growth and transcendence of what it means for the individual, let me explain. So for for instance, there's some guys I know that are afraid of heights.
Mark Booher [00:06:51]:
I'm not a huge fan of heights either. And in the military, I mean, they know that. They know that a lot of people are uncomfortable with heights. And that's why in a lot of different courses you go to, they're gonna make sure there's an obstacle course or there's something that you do where you have to climb up on high things and climb down them and, you know, down ropes or nets or what, you know, whatever it is, because they want to you to be confronted with that. Because what it will do to you, what it can do for you. And but for those people who aren't scared of that, there are some people who have absolutely no fear of heights. So if they're jumping out of an airplane or something, it doesn't bother them at all. It's a lot of fun.
Mark Booher [00:07:34]:
They have a great time doing it, and they don't feel fear. And some of those guys, even outside the military, they work on those high, cell towers, man, that are just hundreds of feet up in the air. I know a guy that does that. And I asked him, I was like, are you afraid when you go up there? Because he'll take pictures and selfies. And, I mean, you can't even see the people on the ground. He's so far up in the air. It's like he's up in the clouds. And he's like, no, man.
Mark Booher [00:07:59]:
I'm not scared at all. He's like, as long as I'm hooked in. And he's like, I climb up. Hooked in. He's like, I'll be up there all day. Don't bother me at all. For me, I would be white knuckled the whole time, man. I would have a problem doing that.
Mark Booher [00:08:10]:
He doesn't. So while it's commendable, it's nothing there there's no difference from him to climb that tower than it is for me to walk across the street. You know what I mean? Like, it doesn't summon within him anything. And so, you know, you either have it or you don't. Right? I mean, so it's not, while it's commendable, you know, there's not a there's not a transcendence. There's no there's nothing for him to go beyond. Whereas when you are faced with something that you're afraid of, right, and you have to take hold and summon the courage within you to overcome it, now you transcend it. Now you've created an opportunity for you to grow, for you to mature, for you to become more than what you are.
Mark Booher [00:08:50]:
And really, that is what kind of going into our, I think, what we're gonna get to next with stories and villains and stuff like that. That is what is the core of every epic story about a hero across generations, across societies. Doesn't matter where you are in the world. All tribal cultures have these stories. Right? And because they recognize that this idea of the hero or the warrior or someone who leaves his home in search of adventure or on some kind of quest that has to come up against resistance. And that resistance really is in the form of fear, whether it's an evil lord or sorceress or or sorcerer or a dragon or some kind of monster that that hero has to confront, he has to overcome. And then when he does so, there's usually this kind of boon or treasure or some some some, magical treasure or something that he gets that then he can take back to his community, you know, because now he comes back transformed. And like I said, to me, that that's what the beauty is with teaching people about fear and accessing it is that we're living in a society right now that just they don't wanna hear about fear or resistance.
Mark Booher [00:10:04]:
All we crave is safety and comfort. That's all that's all the end of discussion. Like, you know, when now the schools nowadays, like, they they are afraid and will not even confront someone with an opposing point of view because they're scared of how that might hurt or traumatize someone. You know? So they have these safe words, these safe zones and everything. And and, really, instead of empowering these people, they're victimizing them because they're breeding I mean, we're breeding a whole generation of weakness that cannot even confront an an opposing, opinion. You know? So anyway, we could get way deep in the in the in the weeds. But to go back to your question, I think that's the difference between courage or bravery. They're both commendable.
Mark Booher [00:10:45]:
They're both good. But one only one has a transfer made I can't even get the word. A transforming trans yeah. Transforming effect upon the soul of the individual.
Adam Mitchell [00:10:57]:
I like that. To unpack something that you that you said, you have some people who will just you know, they'll jump just jump right out of the plane, or they will, you know, face something and just go forward with no problem. Other people, they hesitate. And I'm curious in your experience working with so many people, do you find that those who hesitate are gonna be more diagnostic with their decisions versus those who just are, you know, don't face the fear and then and they are going to be maybe that that cavalier, sort of attitude makes them do who who do you hold back on more? Do you or as a as a trainer, are you more like, no. This guy's just, you know, hold on a second. Dude, you gotta take a step back. Don't just jump out. Just don't don't just run down head first.
Adam Mitchell [00:11:47]:
Do you find or is there a medium? And and how do you how do you regulate that fear
Mark Booher [00:11:53]:
so that you're making good points? I mean, I haven't I haven't you know, any kind of information I would have on what's going through someone's mind, I mean, ultimately, I wouldn't have that. Or if I did, it would just be anecdotal of me talking to people here and there. But I think, you know, I think, though, just thinking it through from a logical, you know, frame of mind, I think that, yeah, that gets back to why we are hardwired with a certain healthy dose of fear of dangerous things. It is to cause us to think not to be reckless, not to be brash. I mean, military history is full of dudes that have just rushed in, you know, for fame and glory without really thinking or counting the cost or having a appreciation of the situation, you know, to weigh those action. And in in the end, they they got themselves and their unit massacred. You know, whereas maybe someone who is more circumspect has a certain amount of tactical patience. I'm not saying hesitate for the sake of hesitation or, you know, you can you can run into the opposite thing where you wait too long.
Mark Booher [00:13:00]:
I'm not talking about that. But to be I think that is the point of having a certain sense of fear is it causes you to pay attention. It causes you to say, Hey, this is something that's dangerous. This is something that could harm us. Yeah. We may still need to go forward, but let's let's make sure we have a plan. Let's make sure we know what our what we're doing here. So I think in a certain sense, you know, that is a gift that fear can do for you.
Mark Booher [00:13:27]:
It can cause you to be careful and and cautious where you need to be, right, in in certain situations.
Adam Mitchell [00:13:35]:
I like that. There was, was something that you said that made me think of as a trainer, I'm curious if you have any tools or suggestions on the best way that we can look into whether it's our own children or maybe there's maybe there's some men who are listening to this episode, who are trainers in their in their own field. But how how are some of the ways that you're able to identify fear in some of the men that you work with or some of the civilians, men or or women? And how are you able to get down metaphorically, get on get down to one knee so that you can see eye to eye with them, so that you're able to be whether I don't know if it's empathetic, but you can look at it through their optics, and you're able to then, help them over that obstacle through that obstacle, and to get to the outcome that you as the trainer want is know is best for them. So So what are some methods that you use there?
Mark Booher [00:14:32]:
Well, as, you know, as far as our schoolhouse goes on the military side, fortunately or unfortunately, I mean, we don't have any events. Like, we don't do the obstacle courses or anything like that. We do have some some gut check physical events, but those, you know, that that kinda has to do with a more kind of a moral, you know, courage to reach down deep and keep pressing and pressing under, you know, the weight or pain. You know, it's a physical kind of thing. But, you know, I have been in in schools or things like that where you you were doing those types of things. And, I mean, you can see it. You I mean, it's palpable. You can feel it in the air.
Mark Booher [00:15:10]:
I mean, whether it was the first time I was in basic training, everybody that goes through basic training or at least when I did, you know, you had to throw a live grenade. And for some kid that's 18 years old that's never thrown more than a baseball, I mean, having a a live explosive in your hand, you know, that you pulled the pin. And as soon as you let this thing go, you know, you better dispose of it the right way or it's gonna send you home in pieces. Right? So, you know, at events like that or, you know, on those obstacle course or whatever, I mean, you can see it. You can see it in people's faces. You can you know, people are very quiet. You got some people who are super quiet. They're not saying a word.
Mark Booher [00:15:49]:
They're kinda just lost in their thoughts. You got some people who are super chatty. It's kind of like a nervous talk. You can see people shaking. You know, whatever it is. So sometimes the the the tails are are visible, you know. Or in our classes, if it's, you know, with firearms or something, and it's someone who is not maybe they're new to it and they just haven't trained that much. It's just not it's just it's betrayed by their actions.
Mark Booher [00:16:16]:
They're just not confident in the handling with the weapon. Even if they're safe, they they hesitate. There's, there's kind of a, you know, some butterfingered kind of, you know, around with it. And so just not as smooth in the execution and things like that. And so, you know, obviously, when you see that your your safety is the paramount concern. So we typically we never start someone off with those types of drills. We will start first with dry fire drills, which is basically no ammunition in the magazine or the weapons. And we build all those skills through repetition after repetition.
Mark Booher [00:16:51]:
And then we're constantly evaluating the student as we go. And then we'll start with simple firing drills that don't really, you know, require much movement. It's kind of on a static line. And then more in the more advanced stages of more advanced courses, there'll be more moving around and shooting and things like that. And so people are kinda given a graduated method to kind of reach that level. So that's one way you you deal with with the fear and the, insecurity of it is you get people ready for it. Right? And so then after that, it's just dealing with a little bit of butterflies and nervousness that, you know, everybody's gonna have, you know, when they're doing something new for the first time.
Adam Mitchell [00:17:31]:
So there's 2 things that I've taken from this here as I'm I'm taking notes, Mark. There were 2 really great things that stood out for me. And when I coach fathers on working their children through fear, one of the most important things is exposure. Right? And I think you'll agree is
Mark Booher [00:17:50]:
Yeah.
Adam Mitchell [00:17:50]:
Is starting them at at very low level exposures to discomfort and gradually increasing that. And it's really important, especially for the little ones, for a father to, you know, whether it's step across the stream, right, and step on 1 one one stone then on the other side of the stream, and then show them and then guide them on how to do that. And then the little girl is able to step across the stream where before she thought she was gonna get washed away. Right?
Mark Booher [00:18:16]:
And now Yeah.
Adam Mitchell [00:18:17]:
Boom. She has that confidence.
Mark Booher [00:18:19]:
Yep.
Adam Mitchell [00:18:19]:
And what you just shared there was sometimes we misunderstand correct me if I'm wrong here, but it's not fear. It's a lack of confidence that we have to overcome. That can be
Mark Booher [00:18:29]:
an aspect of it. Mhmm. Yeah. Can be. I mean Yeah.
Adam Mitchell [00:18:32]:
Not always.
Mark Booher [00:18:34]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, anytime you do something new, right, there's a there's an awkwardness to it. There's it's unfamiliar. And, you know, we're all people. We're all creatures of comfort. Right? We all gravitate to things that are comfortable. So once we're outside that comfort zone, there's a little there's gonna be some awkwardness and nervousness.
Mark Booher [00:18:53]:
You know, it may not be to the level of fear, but, you know, in a sense, you could make the argument that that's, like, a low grade form of it. Right? I mean, it's it's the same thing. It's your mind telling you, hey, something's not right. This is an area where we need to be careful and we need to be cautious on. Right? So, but, yeah, exposure is one form of it. You know? And and then with some things, you can find with exposure, you can kind of inoculate yourself
Adam Mitchell [00:19:19]:
against it. You know, there are certain and that
Mark Booher [00:19:20]:
depends on the person I've seen. And yourself against it. You know, there are certain and that depends on the person I've seen, and even with myself, that there are some things, it's like once you start doing it, you're like, oh, yeah, this is isn't that bad. This is pretty easy. Hey, wait, I'm actually kind of good at this. And then you start enjoying it and you can push yourself. And then there are some things you'll just never get beyond no matter how many times you're exposed to it. But you will still have those feelings, but you will be able to act in spite of it.
Mark Booher [00:19:48]:
You know, like for me, you know, getting up in heights and stuff like that, I can do it. I have done it enough times that I know what kind of triggers I need to say in my mind to get me to go climb the thing or climb off of it or to walk on it or whatever. I can do it. And I don't enjoy it while I'm while I'm doing it. But and when I'm done, I'm like, oh, there's an accomplishment. You know, there's adrenaline rush. And then you could say, alright, go back and do it again. And I'm gonna have to go through that whole cycle all over again.
Mark Booher [00:20:23]:
Yeah. Probably easier than it was on the 10th time than it was the first time, but I still I still always have it. I cannot inoculate myself completely against those things. So there's a couple other things I have in my tool bag that I have to use other than just experience.
Adam Mitchell [00:20:40]:
I love that. So we have the confidence as a low grade fear, but then when we go to the other end of the spectrum, And I would I might even suggest that in that moment, we need to be able to, as a parent or as a trainer, be able to say, okay. Hold on a second. This person is going through a place of terror, not confidence, and certainly not mid level fear, but they're at a place we're not gonna get anywhere no matter how hard we push them. And, and and to be able to acknowledge that, do would you say that I that we're building a good template here, that I'm understanding you right?
Mark Booher [00:21:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I think so. And so I think the next place if you wanna go to it is then, well, what what is that extra thing, you know, if you're not gonna be whatever it is, fill it's gonna be different for everybody. Right? Whatever that x y z factor that x factor is. You know, if someone's not going to get over it where it's almost like you're reinventing the wheel every time, you know, to get them to perform or to cross that chasm or whatever. And I mean, for me, what I have found is 2 things that are pretty much guaranteed to get someone to do things that they thought that they normally couldn't.
Mark Booher [00:22:01]:
And number 1, it's going to be the purpose that's linked to that activity. You know, if there's something on the line, if there's something that is worthwhile, I have seen people do incredible things in the face of fear. Right? I mean, we all know the story of the mama bear, right, of the, you know, or the soccer mom or someone who just goes toe to toe with someone who's threatening their child, right, with no training, no nothing. I mean, it's just instinctive. Right? But the purpose is taught to protecting their child. Right? So there's that. You know, if you're trying to get someone to do something that doesn't, you know, and the outcome is not meaningful to them, then you're gonna have a hard time getting them to do it. So I was, years ago, I was at a school in the army air assault school.
Mark Booher [00:22:55]:
Anyone who's ever gone, it's, you know, it's it can be physically demanding. Most people that have problems are just people that didn't get prepared. But if you're physically prepared yourself before you go, you you could do it. It's it's not that difficult. But you will spend some time doing some things up in high places. And I was up, there's one week part of it called tower week when you're doing all your rappelling and stuff, getting ready to do things out of the helicopter. So you're on these towers, and and they're hot. Some people don't have any problems with it at all, but some people do, you know? And, I saw this dude, I was up on the tower one time, and this guy was getting ready.
Mark Booher [00:23:31]:
You know, you're kinda waiting your turn to get hooked up so you can start rappelling down. And this guy was 1 was, like, getting ready to go off the tower. This dude's been through airborne school. This dude went through ranger school where they're doing stuff up in heights all the time. And this dude, this guy's legs were shaking. His hands were shaking when he was, like, grabbing the rope. And even one of the cadre is like, what's wrong with you? Are you scared? He goes, yes. I don't like heights.
Mark Booher [00:23:58]:
You know? And then boom. He bounded off the tower. You know? And he did he so he he's somebody like me that just is not comfortable doing things up with heights, but he found a way to make himself do things on command whenever it was necessary. And for him, graduating the school was important. It was important for his career. It was important for his, you know, making his whatever goals he had for himself to finish the school. And, you know, the power of purpose. When you have a purpose or something on the line that is meaningful to you, you can get quite a bit out of yourself, more than you think you could maybe that you thought you could.
Mark Booher [00:24:41]:
So that's one. So connecting it to a purpose. So obviously then, that's the thing with kids. You know, sometimes you're trying to get them to do that thing that they really don't have a need to be scared of. But it's scary for them in their world. You know, like, come on, it's no big deal. You can do it. You can do it.
Mark Booher [00:24:57]:
I can believe it. But if they don't, if it's not tied with some purpose that's important to them, you could just end up, you know, causing more stress and even maybe alienate yourself with your kid, maybe. You know, and depending on what the degree is, you know, maybe that's it's not necessarily lead detrimental to the relationship, but, I mean, it just depends on how pushy you are, I guess. So that was that's one thing. So tying it with a purpose that's meaningful, that's important, that's nonnegotiable for you, that that is something I've seen very powerful. It's been very powerful in my life. And then the other thing is you've got to have some commands, a command of yourself. And so you have to have some type of positive self talk.
Mark Booher [00:25:45]:
And I don't care if it's just a script you're rolling through your head. You know, for me, going through those things where you're up on those obstacles and stuff, it's like once I'm up there and I'm doing it, it's not near as bad as the anticipation of it. It's like, you know, if you if you're in a class and there's, like, 200 people in class and you're in the back of your line and you're waiting to climb up on this high thing and do whatever they're gonna make you do, it's the waiting until it's my turn that's the worst for me. Like, once I'm up there and I'm doing it, like, there's a whole different part of my brain that's focused and lost in time, and I'm not thinking about anything other than just conducting whatever task I have to do. So it's dealing with that waiting, that anticipation that is the slow death. Right? And so I just have certain mantras that I go through my mind that I say, and I'll put them on repeat. I'll say it as many times as I have to. And that gets me from, you know, waiting in the back alignment until it's my turn to go.
Mark Booher [00:26:42]:
And then once it's time
Adam Mitchell [00:26:43]:
to share You share 1 of these, 1 or 2 of those?
Mark Booher [00:26:45]:
Oh, yeah. I just, what do I do? What do I, what does, what do I usually say? I'll just like, I'll just say in my head, calm, cool, relaxed. Calm, cool, relaxed. And I'm just focused on my breathing and I just run that calm, cool, relax. And then when it's time to go, like, I, aggressively push myself forward when it's my time to go. I mean, I just don't walk forward. Like, I with my body language, I will assume a confident posture. And, you know, they've done all kinds of studies on the mind body linkage.
Mark Booher [00:27:21]:
Right? And that, you know, that your physical state can reflect an internal emotional state. And so I will assume a confident posture physically, and I will aggressively go forward to meet whatever that challenge is. And it's just that extra bit. It's like pressing the gas and giving it, you know, giving it some gas when you're accelerating. It's just that that's what I need to get over that hump. And then once I lock in or start climbing or doing whatever I gotta do, then it's most of that is it goes away.
Adam Mitchell [00:27:54]:
I love that. So we've got really those 2 things that we wanna put in the conversation when we're moving anybody, whether it's in a training position or in a parenting position, working with our children on helping them become more safe. We wanna actually in every exercise that we're working on them with or we're going through with, we wanna have a purpose. We wanna put a purpose in there. And then when we are exposing them to challenging things, to difficult things, areas where they may be lacking in confidence or as we go up the spectrum, it become even fearful for them, we wanna we wanna give them some type of self talk, some type of, some type of command that they can have ownership of that can help give them agency over the decision of stepping into that challenge. And then, like you said, like the I love the advice about the posture. We actually did one of our early episodes of close quarter dad was was about the importance of teaching your children good posture and how it relates to them being able to stay safe.
Mark Booher [00:28:54]:
So Oh, yeah.
Adam Mitchell [00:28:55]:
So thank you for bringing that up. Yeah.
Mark Booher [00:28:56]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. For sure.
Adam Mitchell [00:28:58]:
So so then let's go let's go into the importance of a villain and the importance of crafting that, in our children. I've got some thoughts on that, but I'd like to I'd like you to give us a starting point here.
Mark Booher [00:29:20]:
So as far as
Adam Mitchell [00:29:24]:
When we talk about working with, with our kids and training our kids, one of the thoughts I have is to not give them, don't let there be a boogeyman. Right?
Mark Booher [00:29:37]:
Yeah.
Adam Mitchell [00:29:38]:
But to actually bring reality to the conversation and and to not also make it a a joke. Let me give you an example. In the previous episode, we were, my guest talked about we had a deep discussion about guiding children through the conversation around sexual abuse. And one of the things that she spoke about early on with young children is to not give character or pet names to a child's private parts, but to actually call it for what it is, to have that honest conversation. And what you're doing is you're not thus minimizing that body part. You're not making it a joke, or you're not making it, you know, like a character in a in a in a cartoon or whatever, that it's a real thing. And I'm curious to know in sort of that same spirit of this conversation of when we talk to our children or we talk to anybody in in your case when you're training and, you know, whether it's you have, you know, someone downrange or you have a scenario or doing scenario based training and you're, you know, are you are you building that based on current stats? Are you building it based on highest degree of fear in or what the highest probability of threat is? And how are we communicating that in does it begin with building the story first, or how do you I'm curious to hear how as a trainer, and then we can sort of tether that to as a parent. How do we begin having these conversations? And and, you know, they're gonna be
Mark Booher [00:31:08]:
it's gonna be the bully.
Adam Mitchell [00:31:10]:
It's gonna be Mhmm. In many ways. My kids, it's gonna be the school teacher. Teacher doesn't like me. The teacher's doing this to me. Right? It's gonna be it's gonna be people of authority, let's just say. Mhmm. But it's also I don't want it to be the white van.
Adam Mitchell [00:31:24]:
You know? I I wanted to actually you know, I wanna talk about someone who is going to be when I work with parents, the highest the highest probability of threat when it comes to abduction is gonna be someone that the child already knows. And, of course, the grooming, you know, a a real bad guy knows this. They're only 5%, so they're going to actually groom and become very familiar and almost become friends with that child before, that victimization happens. Mhmm. When we're working in building these conversations, I'm very curious about some tactical steps that we can take or some ideas and some inspirations that we can glean from your experience. And what is the best way to do this, and how do we create the story and how important is it even? So I'm sort of kind of putting all of those sort of ingredients out there on the table, and and sort of inviting you to share there the importance of having that bad guy in the conversation.
Mark Booher [00:32:33]:
Yeah. Well, you know, on that blog post I wrote or not think I posted it on social media, it was entitled why you need a villain. And that was kind of more of a a metaphorical. You know, I would never say and I'm sure you you would agree with me. I mean, I don't think it would ever be good for a kid to be abused by someone. You know, we don't need someone to victimize us. You know, that's not good for us. But the point is that you will find resistance in your life on some level.
Mark Booher [00:33:02]:
Yeah. Whether it is the bully or it's the tyrant boss at work or really if it's just your own tyrannical set of self limiting beliefs, which is really victimizes the majority of people throughout their life, whether they're, you know, as their children and they grow up into adulthood. You know, that many people will reach the end of their life half lived, you know, because they would not face down those that those villains in their life, even if it was just from their own inner nature. You know, they're they're limiting his self beliefs and things like that. And so, you know, the metaphoric view of the villain is that, you know, in every story, like I said earlier, it, you know, what, and I'll just kind of go through pop culture even, you know. Where would Batman be without the Joker? Where would, in Lord of the Rings? What story would we have if Sauron, the dark lord, didn't exist? Where would, you know, Star Wars franchise be if there wasn't such thing as Darth Vader? Where would all of the in now, that's pop culture. We can go back 1000 of years onto cave paintings where we've got runestones and cave paintings, you know, of the the dragon slayer, you know, the the warrior going out to to face the dragon, right? I mean, it's embedded into our psyche. We know that there is that resistance.
Mark Booher [00:34:31]:
Right? And in stories, it's drawn up as an other, as another person. But, you know, most of the time, our biggest obstacle or enemy is our self, right, that we have to and that's what those things are metaphors for, is the darker side to your nature that's left that when left un confronted, it becomes a tyrant or it becomes a danger to you. And so until you face it and defeat it, you're never gonna be able to move forward. Right? And so that's kind of where I start out, just on myself. And I think as parents, you know, if if you want your kids to adopt that kind of mindset towards life, you have to model that. You know, it does no good if, you know, if, you know, of course, your first role as a parent is to give your your child a safe and loving environment to grow up in. But at the same time, you have to prepare them not just for the bully at school or the bad guy that wants to them on the street. I mean, eventually, they're gonna move into their own lives, start their own families.
Mark Booher [00:35:36]:
And so, you want them to have the tools at hand to be a fully complete individual. And if you haven't done that work yourself or at least not tried and attempted it and in the process of doing it, you know, how are you gonna how are you gonna lead your child, you know, if you don't if you don't, internalize those concepts and principles in your own life? You know, as as the first place I would start.
Adam Mitchell [00:36:03]:
I like that. I like I I and and we can unpack it a little bit, but I like what you said about it kind of equaling resistance and in so many ways too, whether it's externally or internally, and certainly the sort of the biggest breakdown that we're gonna have in life, especially watching our children go through it, is going to be, internal resistance. And I think you and I are in alignment with so much of that is being fed to our kids and how they should view themselves, how they should look at themselves, the decision that they should make all through, you know, hyper consumption and social media, and and then it leads to more, you know, more expressions outward. For girls, it's gonna be social exclusion and cruelty that can be doled out in that way.
Mark Booher [00:36:48]:
Yeah.
Adam Mitchell [00:36:50]:
But really sort of coming down to resistance. You know, I have a thing, Mark, when when I work with dads that when it comes to, like, bullying, there are really, we look at a situation where a child or even your own child is bullied and immediately, we see the other child as the villain. Right? The bully as the bully equals villain kind of.
Mark Booher [00:37:18]:
Right.
Adam Mitchell [00:37:19]:
However, one of the concerns I have with that is that in that case, in that context, and I know a lot of parents who have children who are victims of bullying may just sort of just not even accept what I'm saying, but in the in the instance where a child is being a bully, they're still a child. They're still a child. And I think that there's a lot of dads, I'm sure probably you could relate to this as well, that we remember back when we were children and we did something mean to someone, and that really stuck with us. And I know I can quickly call back that. So in many ways, a child who is acting out or has been given permission at home through parenting, through misdirection, through, as, you know, as you said, creating those narratives in their head that don't guide them in the right direction, whether that be a lack of a faith based home, whether that be a lack of a father being in the home, whatever the reason might be, exposure to some type of domestic violence, but they're acting that out. They too are, a victim, and then even if we go a little bit further concentrically, children who witness this happening to another kid aren't part of it, but are on the sidelines. And I'm sure there again, Mark, I'm sure there's some something in in our history that we can recall when we say, man, I wish I had done something then. I watched it.
Adam Mitchell [00:38:43]:
I see whether it was I was, you know, sitting on the bleachers or sitting on the you know, just sitting at the desk or you know? And I didn't I didn't stand up. I didn't do anything then. And that too is almost a victimization. So we have this, really, this court sort of full circle effect of victimization here, and I'm I'm curious to hear what your opinion as a father would be of the conversation that we might have when we talk about, like, stepping into a scenario and whether it's how do we have, like, a situational awareness conversation that is not very, like, one directional. Like, this is, you know, this is how you handle the bully or this is what you do, but we're actually we explain to a child and, you know, let's maybe even it's tough too because the way that we have things addressed, Mark, is we talk about young children. These are going to be elementary school, then we have middle school, then we have high school kids. You're not having this conversation with a 4th grade girl, the same one that you're having with a 17 year old boy. Right? It's a
Mark Booher [00:39:49]:
different conversation. Mhmm.
Adam Mitchell [00:39:52]:
When we talk about when we talk about creating the when we talk about creating this resistance and what a young person can expect going into something like this or how we prepare them for this, what are some what are some pointers that you might have from your experience both as a dad, as well as, someone who's, you know, has a leadership role when training, military. How do how do you look at this?
Mark Booher [00:40:24]:
Yeah. I'd you know, I'm not a child psychologist and, you know, I may not necessarily well, I don't hold myself out to know what the, you know, the clinical textbook right way of doing things, you know. But I think from my perspective, just kind of layperson's perspective and someone who's had kids, been around kids, you know, one thing I do seem to see is that you kinda wanna start addressing it early on before it becomes a problem. It's just like in all matters of security. I mean, when someone's kicking down your door or breaking into your house, you know, now is not the time to start thinking about how can I better protect myself? You know, how can I how can I better, you know, avoid these kinds of issues? You kinda gotta do that homework beforehand. And I have found that, you know, if you're, if bullying is the main concern, I can't and, of course, someone, you know, anytime you, you pick a broad sweeping rule and say, this is the way I see it, there's always going to be someone say, well, I know this one kid and it didn't happen that way. But I just think, on the whole, I think confidence, confidence, you know, kids that are have internal worth, have a sense of self competent competence in a way about themselves, don't tend to get bullied. You know what I mean? Like, I don't I don't see you know, you don't see the captain of the football team getting bullied.
Mark Booher [00:41:48]:
You know, not that everybody's gotta be a captain of the football team. But I'm just saying, you know, someone who has found their path of, you know, where they've plugged in. And it doesn't have to be sports. It could be anything where they, you know, it's a passion, it's a drive, it's a skill that they've gotten, that they've mastered and honed. I mean, that comes within it its own sense of self worth, confidence, which then can equal into competence and how they handle themselves around other people. And I think instilling that some way, trying to find what that is for your kid at the earliest age without pushing them unnaturally into something that's not geared for them. That can create its own problems. But I think that would remedy a lot of ills.
Mark Booher [00:42:36]:
Yeah. I mean, we've got a lot of, you know, there's a lot of absentee parenting out there. There's a lot of outsourcing. And, I mean, parenting is hard work, and it's harder work now when, you know, people are working, you know, full time jobs and times are tough and things like that. And you get in from the day and you're you're tired, and and now you've gotta go to your next full time job, which is parenting, you know. And you have to bring with it the same level of professionalism, drive, and passion that you do at your work. You know what I mean? And that's tough. But you have to find a way to do it because you're invested in the life of your kid.
Mark Booher [00:43:11]:
And, I'm but I think that's I think that's where it starts. I think you have to start evaluating that or and addressing that early on, you know, to give your kid the best set of skills and ability to cope with situations. Because they are going to face those things out there, whether or not they face it where they become, you know, the recipient of it or they witness it. And, they're gonna have to deal with it on some level and trying to prepare your your your kid and have those conversations. You know?
Adam Mitchell [00:43:43]:
Yeah. You you actually
Mark Booher [00:43:44]:
asked my
Adam Mitchell [00:43:47]:
you you asked my question better than I did through your answer, and I think maybe if I was to reframe my question, it would be more centered on your work as you call it, like, the sort of that warrior mindset. And how do we instill the warrior mindset if we were to I I know you do a lot of work with that type of training. How do we kind of break that down for a child? And when I look at that warrior mindset, I have, like, a a young person, who's able to see complete, see life through with a field vision. Right? They're able to see everything that's happening on the periphery. They're able to take accountability, and they're able to go through all of the different tenants of warriorship. Right?
Mark Booher [00:44:31]:
Mhmm.
Adam Mitchell [00:44:32]:
Starting at, you know, starting at a fundamental difference between right and wrong and ending at complete self control in all situations regardless of how stressful it gets. So I think, I think my question was should be better framed as where do we begin with that as dads giving our children and helping them to create a warrior mindset?
Mark Booher [00:44:56]:
Yeah. I think well, again, the younger you can start and the more natural you can make it, the better. And you're going to have to and the answer is gonna be different for everybody, for their kids. Because their kids are gonna have you know, you may have been huge into sports and football or something growing up. Your kid may inherit that from you or they may do the exact opposite. And so, you know, you get in the one of those situations and you've seen this too at the at the ball games and stuff where, you know, parents are trying to live vicariously through their kids. And that just that creates its own set of problems of putting added unnecessary pressure on your kid that they don't deserve. So, first of all, that being the caveat when I say what I'm going to say next, right, is that we're not trying to live vicariously through our kids.
Mark Booher [00:45:43]:
We're not trying to have them pursue the things that we wish we would have pursued, all that. That, you know, your kid doesn't deserve you to put that on them. But what they do deserve, I think, is for you to get plugged in and find out where their needs, where their interests lie, and help them explore and to, if they take to something, pursue it. And as much as possible, to try to lead them to something that has some amount of physicality to it. I don't see a kid getting a huge boost in their self esteem by being an expert video game player. Now, I know I know there there's people that might might there's dudes right now making more money than I ever will. I didn't even know this was a thing until recently of, you know, professional video gamers that are, you know, playing in Vegas. That's its own thing, man.
Mark Booher [00:46:35]:
I mean, and the majority of kids are never gonna get to that level. But what I'm saying is, as they grow up, you're not gonna get, you're not gonna, I think your chances are very slight that you're going to develop the type of inner strength and resiliency that we're talking about if there's not some kind of physical thing. Because what the physicality does is it helps integrate the mind, body, spirit connection. And that's what you want to have a fully rounded individual. You need all 3 working together, developing together to the greatest degree that they can, that they're able to. And that, in time, will give the kid, the child, the opportunity to begin to develop confidence in themselves, self worth, right? Because this is something, whatever this thing is, this X factor is, it's something that's meaningful to them. And so, it's something that they have pursued. And it's something that they have found transformative in their own life.
Mark Booher [00:47:33]:
So it could be martial arts. It could be sports. It can be shooting sports, hunting, whatever it is. And it be multiple things, but something that requires a certain sense of physicality, right, that integrates the mind and body connection. Right? And then when you begin to build that as an early age, then they have the confidence to then strike out and try new things, things that maybe would have intimidated them or someone else, right? That they're willing to give it a go, that they have that self worth where they won't tolerate being, they won't tolerate being treated poorly by someone else. They won't put themselves in situations where they'll be subject to it. Right? Or or, you know, best case or the worst case, put up with it. Right? But I think that's what it is.
Mark Booher [00:48:22]:
But if you're, you know, if you're leaving your kid left alone with their face strapped to a device 10 hours a day and, you know, all you're doing is feeding and putting a roof over their head and then expecting them to find it on their own, you know, some kids will, but not not all of them. And that's one of our jobs, I think, as a parent is to try to help do that to the best degree we can.
Adam Mitchell [00:48:47]:
Do you think we're lacking there? Do you think we've I mean, I I think the numbers certainly speak to it, but from your perspective, I'm I'm interested in I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer here, but I'm curious. As a in Western culture as a whole, do you think that we've really we've slipped from that from the actual the the having children become less physical. And what do you feel that we can do? I mean, maybe the question is very obvious. Right? But but what can we do to reclaim some of that? And is it is it because I think, really, the core of my question is it because we've slipped and our children are modeling that, or is it that we have become so overwhelmed with trying to keep up both parents working, both you know? And therefore, the kids come home. They're no longer I mean, what what latchkey kids were in the seventies eighties doesn't compare. Right. So I'm curious to hear your perspective on, is this a mistake we made, or is it based on conditions, or is it based on values? Is it sort of
Mark Booher [00:49:56]:
a where do we stand on that part? Man, that's a that's a very that's a very it's a complicated situation. I mean, I think the easiest answer is just to say it's a combination of everything, you know? And then it could be weighted more in one direction depending on the individual and the and the the family dynamic. Right? But, I mean, I think you can look across the board and at the society, and you can see you can see that. I mean, right now, we're having a hard time getting recruits for the military. A lot of them can't even pass the basic stuff. I mean, we know men, even in general, aren't as strong as our grandfathers were. I know I ain't as strong as my grand my grandfather was. I mean, a duke that could duke could haul a horse on his back.
Mark Booher [00:50:44]:
I mean, that guy or both of them, they were incredibly strong farmers, you know, wood chopping, you know, I mean, all that kind of stuff. So, yeah. I mean, as a society, we've become less physical. We've become less interactive. I mean, you just go into a restaurant today and you'll see a family of 4 sitting at the table with all of them on their cell phones. You know what I mean? Like, there's not even the time that they have set aside to be together, they're choosing to interact with some device instead of one another. I mean, it's the way that the culture, in a sense, is kind of pushing us that way because we you know, you do so many things online. People look at us right now.
Mark Booher [00:51:25]:
This is the good aspect of technology, but we're having this conversation not face to face physically, right, which we couldn't, right, without the technology. So that's good that we can have this conversation digitally. But at the same time, right, you know, from you doing your banking to you doing your grocery shopping, like, everything is just kind of pushing us more towards interacting with the technology than other people. And if you're not careful, right, it sneaks up on you and you get used to, you know, your default is to deal with the technology instead of another human being, you know. And this, and now we are creating digital lives, you know, these digital personas on these social media, you know, things we're posting and commenting on that and how we want to present our own life. Right? We're crafting what my ideal life is on this, you know, this my You know what I mean? Because the only the only things people see on my digital, you know, they didn't see when I, you know, if I had too much to drink and I was throwing up like a, you know, like some teenager at a a high school party, you know, I'm not posting that. You know? Or if I'm having a, you know, a bad day and I'm feeling sorry for myself, I don't post that. Well, some people do, but I don't.
Mark Booher [00:52:43]:
You know what I mean? So Sure. What typically are people posting, you know. Hey, man. Here's us on these wonderful trips we're having. All smiles, our family. You don't see the fight we just had 5 minutes ago, you know, of arguing with each other before we took this photo. You know what I mean? So, pretty soon, people are are more busy cultivating this digital life than they are their real life. And they're becoming more spectators of their own life rather than going out and creating it.
Mark Booher [00:53:09]:
Instead of creating this digital, fake, one-sided, you know, they're not really going after the things that are important to them. And what's gonna happen is they're gonna, they're going to reach the end of their road and their journey here on this part of life. And they're gonna see that it wasn't, they were just watching it happen. They weren't making it happen. Yeah. You know, and that's a real danger.
Adam Mitchell [00:53:36]:
Yeah. I agree like what you said.
Mark Booher [00:53:37]:
Yeah. Getting back to your question. I mean, I think it's a it's a combination of it all, I think.
Adam Mitchell [00:53:44]:
Yeah. Yeah. I certainly think that there's, there's some impositions that, you know, modern societies put on families, but there's also the loss of faith in the home. There is, there's just been breakdown in so many different so many different areas, but there's also I think you pointed this out really well. There's also advances, and there's a lot of areas of huge opportunity that we can guide our children to, but it's a matter of taking the initiative to do that Mhmm. And and doing the learning, being vulnerable, saying, hey. You know what? I don't know this. I don't I don't understand this, but going for it, what you know, you had mentioned just basic firearms training.
Adam Mitchell [00:54:22]:
You know? If if man has not exposed himself to doing that, pretty much in pretty much in any community, you can find someone who can teach you those basics and do a basic course. Yeah. But stepping into the uncomfortable, and I think that starts with first being able to say, I don't I don't know how to do this. And, there's, yeah, there's so many areas in our in our culture and in our times today where I think as men, we can do that. I have 2 more questions for you, Mark, and then, you know, we can we can wrap this up. My first question is, what what is it that keeps you awake at night when it comes to when it comes to where we are in in our world collectively and what a man can do to, in his own family to resolve that, What are you scared of? What do you what do you, like what really, like, you got your eye on?
Mark Booher [00:55:29]:
Well, you know, I think, man, that's a that's a big one. Right? There's there's so many things right now in the news, you know, that you can look and and doom scroll in through your news feed. And and, I try to limit myself because good night, man, you just pull that thing out. And if you wanna put yourself in a bad mood really quick or just a hopeless, like, nihilistic view of the world, dude, you could do that in less than 60 seconds. I mean, really.
Adam Mitchell [00:55:57]:
Yeah.
Mark Booher [00:55:58]:
So, you know, there's there's plenty of things. I I wouldn't say it keeps me up because, and as as dreary as this may sound, it's it's actually kind of a liberating way once you come to this point of view. But, I've just come to the conclusion that, you know, nature's probably one of the nature, I think, is the best teacher just for almost anything in life. If you observe it happening in nature, that's why we call it natural, right? Then, that is the way it goes. And so, rather than resisting it, you come to accept it and then find your place in it and how you can thrive the best. Right? And so what I mean by that is that everything lives and dies. Everything has a life cycle, whether it is people, governments, societies, nations, whatever it is. Everything is born.
Mark Booher [00:56:52]:
It grows in from childhood to adulthood. It reaches the zenith of its strength, and then it becomes to decline. It becomes to give way to entropy. And to finally, it dies. And I think part, and right now, I would say in our society and in our life cycle, we are on the downward cycle of it. I don't care who gets elected in this next presidency. There's not going to be one person that comes and fixes all of this because it's not a governmental policy that's causing it. It is a societal one.
Mark Booher [00:57:26]:
And it is, we are in, we are in that cycle in the same way that you can, you can do things to increase the longevity of your lifespan. But given a long enough timeline, right, we know where that's gonna end up. And so rather than despair of it and just be like, oh, it's hopeless, and, oh, you know, and just give into it, then you find your place to continue to fight it, not in a such that you're gonna change society, but that you that you find your place where you thrive, where you are your best, where you have your most fulfilled role where you are now. Because I hear so many people, and I've fallen victim to it, to it too, where you're like, Oh, man. I wish we lived in the fifties. Or, I wish I could lived 100 years ago. Or, like, you know, I identify with some period of history with the golden age, if you will. And everybody wants to go back to that.
Mark Booher [00:58:20]:
There's a lot of people in America that they wanna go back to rebirth. I think we can have rebirth. Yeah, I think we can have periods of rebirth within the death cycle. But ultimately, that's where it's gonna go. You know, it's not gonna be here forever. Right? But when you realize that, just in the sense of you stop trying to worry and try, you stop trying to defy the effects of gravity, and you stop trying to worry about the fact that you're going to age and you're going to die. Right? You learn how, well, given the fact that I am going to die eventually, that I won't be here. Well, how should that change how I live now? Right? How do I make sure that my life down here was worthwhile and that I left a legacy for those who are behind me? You know, just like my ancestors did for me.
Mark Booher [00:59:15]:
You know, you are the culmination of 1,000 and 1,000 of generations that fought, that struggled, that were hungry, destitute, that survived plague, war, desolation to pass on their genetic code to you. And I always think of that. I mean, that's kind of a theme in my mind as I think about my ancestors, you know, of all the things that they went through, and they had their time on the and they passed this gift of life to me. And what a sad state it would be to completely just spend my time doom scrolling and looking at how bad everything is and bellyaching and complaining about it when there's plenty to complain about. But ultimately, that I have my time now. And what am I gonna do with that? How am I gonna live my life? How am I going to struggle well in this small amount of time that I have here to live in such a way that I would bring honor to my ancestors who fought so hard to pass their torch to me. You know? So to me, it's not a lot that keeps me up at night other than making sure that I'm living in a way that's worthy of their memory. You know, because I believe they're watching me.
Mark Booher [01:00:30]:
So I wanna live up to to them, you know? I don't know. Yeah. Maybe an unconventional response, but that's kinda what does it for me.
Adam Mitchell [01:00:40]:
No. No. I'm really hearing in there the importance and priority of time and how it doesn't just go in in in in for you. The priority of that time doesn't exist just in the here and now, but you're honoring the, you know, your your forefathers looking over your shoulders always. They're always there. They're always present, and and it impacts the decisions that you're making now and for the future, as you say, you know, being able to leave that legacy. So it's really the respect of the time rather than and using doomscrolling as an example of just throwing that time away and it being nothing. Or, you know, I even heard you say, living in complaint.
Adam Mitchell [01:01:19]:
There's sure there's a lot to complain about today, but what am I doing, and how am I doing, something that's going to impact the future, the legacy that I wanna leave, but that also contributes to the sacrifices that were made for me to be able to be here and do this now. So, wow. Message received. That was very powerful. Thanks. Mark, tell us a little bit about what you have going on right now in your own work and how we can support that and, be a part of it.
Mark Booher [01:01:50]:
Yeah. Well, thank you. Well, obviously, your listeners are into the podcast thing. So, I do host a podcast called Pearl Snap Tactical Podcast. It's on Apple, Spotify. Just type in Pearl Snap Tactical, you're gonna find it. So it covers that's kind of our mission there is to help people become stronger, faster, harder to kill physically, but mentally and psychologically and spiritually as well. But we're really not only do we cover tactical things like, you know, firearms and training and stuff like that, but very much trying to reignite that warrior culture, that warrior mindset that was very common and prevalent within our ancestors.
Mark Booher [01:02:33]:
That's just really given way to entropy just because of the day and age that we're living in. And I think that that would do, you know, as far as what am I doing? Well, to try to combat it, that's one of the things. Because I think that's been lost, especially among men. I think men are seeking it. And I think they've got some poor substitutes as what's being offered as far as Hollywood and other things that are out there as far as, you know, what it means to be a man or a warrior and things like that. So we're kind of going pulling old school examples. When I say old school, you know, a couple 1000 years, you know, from, antiquity. But finding those philosophy and mindset, but bringing it and making it applicable for the modern world.
Mark Booher [01:03:17]:
So there it's not every episode covers that, but there's plenty if you're more into just the tactical stuff and the the gear and gadgets and training, that's plenty of that on there too. So that's that's the podcast, Pearl Snap Tactical. And then our website is barritusdefense.com. So it's barritusdefense.com. And from there, you can find out all about us, what we're doing, where we're gonna be training at. You can jump on a training course with us. We even have some online courses you can you can take. And so it's it's all it'll be all there.
Adam Mitchell [01:03:51]:
Awesome. Tell us a little bit about some of the online courses that we can look forward to.
Mark Booher [01:03:55]:
So one of the we've got 2 up right now. One's just a very short, situational awareness. I think it's about 45 minutes or an hour long. Just kinda how how how you can train your brain and your mind. Right? I believe that the most powerful weapon you have is the one between your ears. But it's not going to be developed by accident or on its own. You have to take some steps to train it. So how to become more aware of your environment, you know, the best way to, per to protect yourself from an attack is to see it before it's coming.
Mark Booher [01:04:28]:
And you can't see it if you don't know what you're looking for. So that course will help prepare you for that. It's the same kind of stuff we train in the military and law enforcement, and we roll that out to civilians as well. So that is the first module in a longer series, the other course that is much, it's a little longer called the High Threat Pistol Tactics. And not only will that cover pistol tactics, you know, protecting yourself with a firearm, but it really goes into other things. Like, we have modules besides the situational awareness. We've got a module on spatial awareness, domestic terrorism, you know, 101, you know, and mob violence. You know, things that you see in the news cycle.
Mark Booher [01:05:14]:
And without, you know, this would be its own topic, so I won't I won't drag this out. But there's so much. You know, we go to the news to try to get informed. But really, what we end up doing is getting propagandized. You know, we get we get served whatever the agenda is of whatever that media outlet is. And I don't care what you watch, what side of the aisle, they're all doing it. Right? So by going through these things like terrorism, what really is terror terrorism? How do you know who is a terrorist? Because right now, we just say whoever we don't like is a terrorist, right? So what does it mean when we say it's a terrorist? How do they operate? How do they choose their targets? And then as a, you know, someone trying to keep my family safe, is that even something I need to be concerned about? And the answer is yes. And so what do you, what can you do with that information to make yourself safer? And then, you know, we've got mob violence and things like that.
Mark Booher [01:06:07]:
How do we see those things materializing? Because those things kind of are like a contagion, right? They start out small and they grow. Like, how do I see the signs and get myself out of there? Or what if I find myself out in the middle of it? What do I need to do? So all those kinds of things that then, when it's paired with the with the pistol tactics and and things like that, it makes you more robust and more resilient. Because, I mean, quite frankly, I'm a big proponent of carrying a firearm. I do every day, but it's not the answer to every problem that you have. It can't be. So you need to have a broad range of skills, knowledge, and abilities. And so this course kind of packages all that together in a way that a civilian or someone who's never been in the military, or even if you have been in the military or law enforcement, you know, it will accentuate and help build those skills.
Adam Mitchell [01:06:57]:
Awesome. Well, I will, of course, have all those links available for our listeners and watchers. And before we end, Mark, I just want to take an opportunity. Thank you for your service. Thank you for the work that you're doing for men and for civilians, for for anybody who's interested in keeping themselves safe and expanding this conversation. And then, of course, I want to thank you for being here and, joining me in this conversation on Close Quarter Dad. I look forward to expanding the conversation, continuing it with you. I'm really interested in, your take on mob violence.
Adam Mitchell [01:07:32]:
So maybe we can have another conversation in the future centered around that.
Mark Booher [01:07:37]:
Yeah, Adam. I'd love to. I really had a good time. Thanks for having me on and for the work you're doing. This definitely needs to be more of that out in this space for sure.